A network interface between an internal bus and an external bus
architecture having one or more external buses includes an external
interface engine and an internal interface. The external interface engine
(EIE) is coupled to the external bus architecture, where the external
interface engine communicates over the external bus architecture in
accordance with one or more bus protocols. The internal interface is
coupled to the external interface engine and the internal bus, where the
internal interface buffers network data between the internal bus and the
external bus architecture. In one embodiment, the internal interface
includes an internal interface (IIE) coupled to the internal bus, where
the IIE defines a plurality of queues for the network data. An
intermediate memory module is coupled to the IIE and the EIE, where the
intermediate memory module aggregates the network data in accordance with
the plurality of queues.